week 75

Has it really been seventy-five weeks already? Time is starting to run out faster and faster every passing week. Last week, someone forgot to tell Mother Nature that it was not winter anymore, that or Mother Nature forgot to tell Old Man Winter that it was no longer winter. It has warmed right back to where it supposed to be this time of year.

It was a hard week this week because our investigators kept on canceling, or they were not there when they agreed to be there for us to come over. It is never easy when you have over twenty scheduled appointments and less than seven hold and we were able to teach them the gospel. At the very least that gave us more time to go find the people who will receive us and listen and act on our message.

I find that the hardest part of going out to talk to people, to see if we can find anyone who is willing to listen to our message, is finding people who will listen and act upon the message. Sometimes I feel like the simple commitment to read from the Book of Mormon is like pulling teeth. Some people just will not read it for one reason or another. Without acting on the message we have, they can never know for themselves if the message is true or not. I sometimes wonder why people invite us in, or more importantly back, when they don't intend to act on our message. Without the desire or intent to act, they might as well watch tv. I am sure watching tv is more entertaining than watching two twenty year old boys try to explain why the restoration of the gospel was needed and that Joseph Smith really did see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

My mind just goes back to the need of having real intent. Moroni teaches us in the Book of Mormon that without real intent, we can't receive answers to our prayers. I find that true with the people that I teach. People who has real intent in their prayers are the people who are ready to act on the message. As Jesus taught "If any man do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself". If anyone does "his will" with "real intent" and with a "fullness of heart" he will "know of the doctrine", and that it what I hope everyone will understand.

That concludes my rant about people acting on my message that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph Smith. Through Joseph Smith the gospel was restored to the Earth and the Book of Mormon is a sure witness that it is true. We can get closer to God as we read the Book of Mormon and apply it to our lives, enter into sacred covenants, and endure to the end.

Now onto my week. We had stake conference this past weekend and it was really good. The first part of stake conference was people giving their testimonies. At least two of them were recently baptized and shared their journey into the church. It was interesting how Heavenly Father prepares his children to receive the gospel, no matter how religious they are currently are. One of them said that her journey into the church started years ago when she meet a guy at school. Through that relationship she requested a bible. She was ready for the missionaries to call asking if they can come and visit with her. The reason why she said yes is because she was told by her friend that they probably would be calling to set up a time to meet with her.

We never can tell how we will influence others to come unto Christ. It might just be something small like being friend to them, or just being friendly to them, or something as big has inviting them to learn about the restored gospel. The point is we should always be ready to do what Christ would do, that way they can come onto Him.

Elder Bjerregaard
#ASaviorIsBorn